A Texan conservative Anglican -- yes, a square peg -- ponders both churchly and worldly things and enjoys his new church.

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Abomination of the Week: Chrislam RETRACTED

(NOTE: The above photo is fake.)

Libchurchers have found yet another way to pervert Christianity – Chrislam:

According to a recent blog post from The Last Crusade, congregations in several metropolitan areas -- Houston, Atlanta, Seattle, and Detroit -- preached sermons and held Sunday school lessons recently on the founder of Islam, Mohammad, whom Muslims consider a prophet. Qurans were also placed in the pews next to Bibles.

It is only by the mercies of the Lord that I did not spontaneously combust when I read about the Qurans being placed next to Bibles.

But what is with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in the image above going whole hog, er, non-pork product for this schlock? I thought the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination was staunchly orthodox. If any readers wish to inform me what the heck is going on, feel free to comment.

RETRACTION: OOPS! It appears the above image is an internet prank. I now notice the sign of this “Beulah Cumberland Presbyterian Church” has been used for other tomfoolery as well. But now I am the fool. My apologies to my readers and to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mea culpa!

And I have sniffed around some more, and this whole story doesn’t pass the smell test. There is a Chrislam religion in Nigeria, but I am unsure how much of it in America is real and how much a leg-pulling attempt at humor. So I am retracting the whole thing at least until I find out more. Again, my apologies.

I mistakenly forwarded this article. Apparently, www.nowtheendbegins.com does not check it's sources or their facts well, nor did Paul L Williams, who as the author of the original article at http://thelastcrusade.org/tag/chrislam/ (the 2nd article on this page) is quite sensational in some of his interpretations. And, unfortunately, neither did I.

I have now investigated it myself and found that on their site at http://www.mdpc2.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=314:chrislam-response&catid=4:communications-and-media&Itemid=1222 , the Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston categorically denies what is written.

Jon Stallsmith, the leader of the 'Jesus in the Quran' program which began at his church, Grace Presbyterian in Atlanta, states on that website that "We’ve begun to collect tools and resources on this site that should help you as you learn more and more about effective Kingdom Conversations with your Muslim friends." Although I'm not completely convinced yet of the nature of this ministry, I must give him the credit for making an attempt to reach muslim (lost) souls for Christ. His methods are efinitely different, but I can't say for sure that they are wrong.

As for Rick Warren, he is radical and I have not appreciated some of the statements and actions he has taken. However, the website for his Saddleback Community Church in California states that the church's "purpose is to lead people to Jesus and membership in his family, teach them to worship the Lord and magnify his name, develop them to Christlike maturity, and equip them for ministry in the church and a mission in the world." On the other hand, the picture with Cat Stevens is real. Rick Warren spoke at the Islamic society of North America’s annual conference (ISNA.). This article describes him better than I could. http://www.examiner.com/christian-conservative-in-baltimore/rick-warren-yoked-with-islam

God has convicted me about this, that I should know the truth before being part of libeling an innocent person or ministry.